1nterceptor

"Under German road safety rules, bicycles are required to have to have two handlebar brakes. After a long argument at the roadside, the officer insisted that Mr Ionescu’s bike was not roadworthy and issued him with a €25 (£20) fine."

Read the full article:
German police apologise for fining one-armed cyclist for riding his bike with only one arm - Europe - World - The Independent

prathmann

Besides the absurdity of making the rule apply to a one-armed cyclist, I'm surprised that the rule would specify that both brakes be hand-operated. When I was a student in Germany my bike had a coaster brake on the back wheel and only a front handbrake and that appeared to be a common arrangement for utility bikes at the time.

bikemig 

You couldn't buy that much bad publicity if you tried.

blacksapphire08

We have a Jamis Hudson that operates front and rear brakes with one brake lever and I assume thats a similar setup to what this gentleman has in his bike. If it's illegal why do they sell bikes like that?

I-Like-To-Bike

I doubt very much that the law calls for two handbrake operated brakes for the reason that you stated, i.e. it is common for German bikes, including the numerous IGH rear wheels, to be equipped with a foot operated rear coaster brake as well as a hand operated front brake. The "rule" for two working handbrakes is probably an invention of the British Tabloid cited in the OP.

Attached are some of the legal German bikes I bought in Germany with only one hand brake, all have coaster brake rear.

unterhausen

I think if he had a dual brake lever the officer would have considered it legal, he had a foot brake and a handlebar brake

mr_bill

The original story from Kölner Stadt-Unzeiger, complete with a link to the earlier Kölner Stadt-Unzeiger story.

No, this is not a UK tabloid invention.

But yes, German regulations are for two independent brake systems, not two hand brakes.

-mr. bill

905

Hear that? It's the sound of one hand clapping.

I-Like-To-Bike

OK, got it. The fabrication of the two hand brake "requirement" originated somewhere else; the British tabloid and OP repeated it.

genec

Every damn bike ever ridden in America at night is sold "illegally..."

Just about every state has a law that specifies that a bike ridden at night must have a light (used to just be reflectors...). The law ususally reads something like this: Few bikes sold in America are sold with lights.

Yeah, why?

ItsJustMe

I think there's a significant difference between selling a bicycle without lights when it's only illegal to ride them AT NIGHT without lights, and few people ride bikes at night, versus selling a bike that can't legally be ridden at all (assuming the interpretation of the German law is correct).

ModeratedUser150120149

Wonder what a psychologist would make of this thread? A street level person made a mistake. Management not only corrected the mistake but apologized. Yet, this......

Looigi

No. Bikes sold completely assembled must have CPSC compliant set of reflectors. If they're to be ridden at night and the state requires lights, it's the responsibility of the rider, not the seller, to ensure the bike complies with the law.

brianmcg123

I remember hearing about a power-lifter who broke a world record in the bench press, but it was disallowed because he was not wearing shoes. The man had his lower legs amputated when he was very young.

The next event he was in he was wearing shoes. The shoelaces were tied around his neck. He broke the record that time.

I-Like-To-Bike

Because it is NOT illegal to sell a bike in the U.S. without lights. It may be illegal to ride at night without lights. It shouldn't be that hard to understand the difference.

I-Like-To-Bike

Henny-Penny, Woe Is Me, Victim Complex?

rydabent

Giving that cyclist a ticket is so lame. What about some fixie riders that have no brakes, or as someone mentioned a bike with just a rear wheel coaster brake? Just last week I ran into a fixie rider that had no brakes at all.

I-Like-To-Bike

What is doubly lame is carrying on about an incident that was a mistake to begin with, that has been corrected and settled and is over. But that doesn't seem to make any difference to those who enjoy wailing and gnashing their teeth over the alleged persecution of bicyclist victims.

JoeyBike

Zee rules are zee rules.

Chicago Al 

+1

What is 1nterceptor's deal, anyway? He posts this kind of thing frequently, like he spends all his time looking for stories about bad things for cyclists, then posts them here. Never with much in the way of context or understanding, and he doesn't follow up with his own comments. Who knows, maybe he hates cyclists himself and is simply trolling the whole forum. This 'discussion' is particularly pointless and has nothing to do with advocacy or safety.

905

I suppose a psychologist might diagnose a deficit in rule-governed behavior.

It's fair to say some of us have less sympathy for errors in judgement made by "street level" people who have the power not just to cite, but to arrest and detain – though fortunately it didn't come to that despite what the news report calls "a long argument at the roadside". At least Mr Ioescu felt confident enough to be able to state his case without being tased or something, which is what you want in a healthy democracy.

Rollfast

So somebody can sell them.

Rollfast

No nasty bull gorings during time trials of late. Maybe the bill for better cattle gates worked.

Chicago Al 

+1

It's not mentioned in the stories linked above, but the one-armed man, Bogdan Ionesco, is likely an immigrant to Germany from Romania (the -co or -cu ending is typically Romanian), may speak German with an accent. Post-1991 many Romanians have scattered to more prosperous European countries and the UK. Some Germans are very hostile to these immigrants, and that might explain the cop's evident animus toward Ionesco and determination to find something to charge him with. This kind of profiling and harassment has been known to happen in other places, too--as any black American will attest.

dynodonn 

+1